THE METS VS. THE ASTROS; LANIER REVERSES ASTROS' COURSE

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WHAT one has here is a clear example of how contrasting means can result in a similar end. Actually, there are many similarities between the managing styles of Hal Lanier of the Houston Astros and Dave Johnson of the Mets. Both men are relatively new to the profession - this is Lanier's first season as a major league manager, Johnson's third - and both are aggressive strategists who force opponents onto the defensive with daring base-running and hitting maneuvers.

And both men are consumed by their craft and bring to their job an intensity that, although it sometimes risks bruising a player's ego, also leaves little doubt as to who is at the top of the chain of command. They are.

Johnson helped usher baseball into the computer age by stuffing software with every imaginable tendency, situation or permutation. Lanier, instead of a shelf full of floppy disks, employs a pile of color-coded cardboard charts to track the strengths and weaknesses of his own players as well as his opponents. In one look, he can see not only where a player gains most of his hits, but also where he makes most of his outs and how hard the balls were hit, and how he fares against particular pitchers. ''It's just my way,'' he said. It is often difficult to assess the actual effects a new manager has on a team. Certainly, no one can doubt that Lanier's way is one of the primary reasons the Astros, last season a boring, formless team that finished tied for third in the National League West, bounded to the division title in 1986. ''We came into spring training with essentially the same team as last year,'' said Mike Scott, the Astros' ace. ''So something had to be done.''

That something was to play more offensive baseball, which resulted in some tangible dividends. First, the Astros stole 158 stolen bases, up from 96 last season (''If I was playing for him, he might make me run,'' said Yogi Berra, the deposed Yankee manager who joined Lanier's staff as an assistant). Also, Houston is a team that exudes confidence even when it's trailing. Note: The Astros came from behind to win 39 games during the season.

''If you had to look back and say one game may have made the difference, I'd say it came when we came from behind with two outs against St. Louis, my former ball club,'' Lanier said. ''We were down by a run with a runner on base and Cruz comes up and hits a home run. That was a big ball game for us. We were only six games ahead at the time, then Cincinnati came into town and we won two straight from them.''

What Lanier also wanted was to create an atmosphere where anything less than perfection wasn't tolerated, which was a sharp contrast to the relaxed air that pervaded the Astro locker room under Lanier's predecessor, Bob Lillis, whose nickname was ''the Flea.'' Enough said. Kevin Bass, the Astros' leading hitter, was benched for a time this season for missing an assignment in the outfield. ''You can't get away with anything anymore,'' he said. ''It's worked, but it sometimes gets to you.''

Some Astros feel Lanier may be a beneficiary of good timing. ''Not to take anything away from the coaching,'' Alan Ashby, the Astros' catcher, said, ''but I think we've just had championship-types of years from five or six players. Sure, the style of managing is more aggressive than before, but you've got to play. That's the bottom line.''

Berra, who for the first time in 40 years is working outside the New York City area, said he has known Lanier ''since he was a little baby.'' ''He probably doesn't remember me,'' Berra said. ''His father used to own a restaurant down in St. Petersburg, where we trained.''

At a tubby 5 feet 8 inches and 191 pounds, the 62-year-old former Met and Yankee manager is a sharp contrast to the lean, 6-2, 44-year-old Lanier. Berra was instrumental in easing Lanier's transition from new manager's four previous seasons as an assistant to Manager Whitey Herzog in St. Louis by being a kind of voice in Lanier's ear during games.

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''There are so many other things to think about, you have to remind him sometimes about things you might miss,'' Berra said. ''Like if the pitcher's up, who do you want to get up to pinch-hit? Or if you need a runner, who do you want?''

Berra said Lanier's strength is that, in spite of his tough-guy veneer, he also backs his players when necessary. ''He lets them run, then says, 'I'll take the blame if you get thrown out.' He feels that it keeps the other team on edge,'' Berra said.

''That came from St. Louis, a team I saw was successful because it ran base to base,'' said Lanier. ''This was a team I saw that had a lot of speed, people who could do some damage.''

Lanier's success as a coach belies his playing skills. The son of a former Cardinal pitcher, Max Lanier, he was a .228 hitter over 10 seasons in the majors, his best year being his first, when he hit .274 for San Francisco in 1964. He never again came close to that, but remained employed on the strength of his fielding at shortstop. Upon his retirement, he began managing on the minor league level at St. Petersburg and joined the St. Louis organization as a coach in 1981.

''He's still got a little to learn, but he's getting better,'' said his tutor, Herzog. ''There's no question he was ready. Sometimes, I thought he was going to explode sitting around waiting.''

Even though it is certainly true that these are essentially the same Astros that stumbled through last season, there are meaningful additions, particularly among the pitchers. Charlie Kerfeld, a rookie who spent last season in the minors, Aurelio Lopez, signed as a free agent on June 2, and Larry Andersen (claimed off waivers) have provided the Astros with the kind of middle relief they lacked last season. Billy Hatcher, the Astros' leadoff hitter, was acquired during the offseason from the Chicago Cubs in exchange for Jerry Mumphrey and won a job in center field. This season, he has batted .260 and stolen 37 bases to spark the Astros' attack.

That the Astros got off to a good start - 14-6 in April, including 7-1 on the road - was the only signal Lanier needed to prove to his players that his approach was correct. ''This ball club had never gotten off to a good start, so that was one of our turning points,'' he said. ''I think it told the ball club that they could play well on the road, which they've never done before.''

Yet the true test came just after the All-Star break, when baseball's hottest team came to town trying to prove that, even though the Astros were in the midst of a heated race in the West, they were not in the same class. It was one of the few occasions this season that the Mets meekly left town, having lost the final three of the four games, each time with Houston rallying for the triumph. Houston took over first place in the West in that series and never relinquished it. ''The way we came from behind after the Mets would get on top,'' the manager said, ''it told the club that they could play very fine baseball against the better ball clubs.''

A version of this article appears in print on October 5, 1986, on Page 5005001 of the National edition with the headline: THE METS VS. THE ASTROS; LANIER REVERSES ASTROS' COURSE. Order Reprints|Today's Paper|Subscribe